He licked his lips nervously before continuing. “Not all the ogres went east, Champion. Two accompanied the elf’s party west.”
“The ogres have betrayed me? Me?! How dare they help the worm?!”
Yiralla deliberately avoided responding to her god’s rambling and focused on her subordinate. “Are you sure they accompanied the elf? Were they not merely heading in the same direction or perhaps chasing after the free agent?”
The troll shook his head. “No, Champion. The tracks are clear. They travelled west together.”
Yiralla closed her eyes. This was not good. She could feel Xetil’s burgeoning fury. “Very well, Captain. Have your men take shelter in the caves.” She glanced up at the angry grey sky. “We will ride out the storm, then resume the chase.”
“No, Yiralla,” said Xetil.
“Sire?” Yiralla asked, dreading his response.
“You will resume your pursuit of the free agent immediately,” ordered Xetil. “If the ogres are helping the elf, he may yet find a way to escape the inner mountain. There is no time to waste.”
Yiralla looked up at the sky again. It had been darkening all day, and the wind was picking up. It would snow soon. Winter storms in the mountains, she knew, could last for days. And not even she, as powerful as she was, could survive their wrath unsheltered. She could die in these mountains, she realised.
“My lord, the storm is almost upon us,” she said, attempting to reason with Xetil, even though she held little hope of changing his mind. “Even the trolls will struggle to survive its wrath on the open slopes. Once the storm has passed—”
“You will not delay, Yiralla. I want his head on a pike—”
Greatly daring, she interrupted her god again. “But the cost, sire—”
“Enough, Yiralla!” snapped Xetil, his voice dripping with venom.
Yiralla swallowed further protest. Now was not the time to push Xetil further.
“The elf is about to slip from our grasp,” continued Xetil. “I will not allow it. Bring me his head.”
Yiralla bowed her head in acquiescence. “Your will, Divine.” Turning back to the troll, she called out, “Captain, change of plans. Send out your fastest scouts to track the elf’s trail west. They are not to return until they’ve found our quarry. We will follow on their heels.”
The captain did not even blink at the change in orders. “Aye, aye, Champion.”
✽✽✽
Hamen chewed on his beard as he and his squad, stretched out flat on the rocky slope, looked downwards on Xetil’s champion and her men. The dwarves were doing their best to remain obscured in the surroundings. Although Hamen suspected their attempt at subterfuge was wasted. For days now, he had been convinced the trolls were aware of the dwarves on their backtrail.
And yet, the trolls made no effort to dissuade the dwarves’ pursuit, which was disturbing enough. It pointed to an utter lack of concern from Yiralla of the threat the dwarves possessed—understandable and even forgivable considering the champion’s fearsome reputation—and perhaps the dire urgency of the champion’s mission.
What could be so important? he wondered worriedly. Or rather who. Over the two weeks they had been following the Dread Spear company, it had become clear to the dwarves—no mean mountaineers themselves—that Yiralla was on the trail of a very unusual party.
Three elves, a wolven, and a mountain bear.
What is such an odd group doing together, and what are they doing in the mountains? Yet as much as Hamen would have liked an answer to the puzzle, he knew it was well past time he gave up this chase.
He cast an unhappy eye to the sky. The first of the winter’s storms were about to hit, and winters in the Skarral mountains, as Hamen well knew, were brutal. Already, he regretted staying on Yiralla’s trail for as long as he had.
He should have turned back days ago. Yet his gods-be-damned curiosity had gotten the better of him. He had kept hoping the next day would bring him the answer he sought.
And now it was too late to turn back. They would not reach the south gate before the winter set in. He would have to find somewhere for his men to shelter and see out the season’s first storms. Then hope they were not snowed within the inner mountains for the rest of winter. An unappealing prospect.
But, he reminded himself, warding off despair, dwarves were hardy folk, more so than even the trolls. He and his men had weathered more than their fair share of winters in the western range.
Despite their relative youth, all of his men were veterans, all except Dhoven. He worried most about the apprentice enchanter, but the youth had proven surprisingly resilient thus far. I should never have let him come, Hamen thought. But that regret, like all his others, was useless.
“What is that damn champion doing?” Benin whispered. “And whose camp is that? They’d have to be bloody crazy to live here.”
Hamen turned his attention back to Yiralla. She appeared to be listening to the report of the troll captain.
“Looks like an ogre camp,” grunted Borin. Hamen nodded. He thought so too.
Benin looked confused. “An ogre camp? What are they doing out here? And why have they run from Xetil’s champion?”
Hamen wondered just the same thing. Nearly every ogre tribe in western Myelad owed their allegiance to Xetil. It was strange to find a tribe camped here, outside the gods’ domain. Was Xetil planning an incursion into Crotana? Was that why the ogres were here? But if that was the case, why did they hide from Yiralla? It didn’t make sense.
“Look, something is happening,” exclaimed Dhoven.
The apprentice’s excited tone pulled Hamen away from his musing. Two scouts were hurrying west away from Yiralla’s company, while the rest of the trolls were forming up again. Did Yiralla not mean to take shelter from the storm in the abandoned ogre camp?
“Where are they going?” whispered Dhoven.
“Looks like they are following some tracks leading west,” replied Borin. “It must be the elves they’ve been tracking these past two weeks.”
Hamen glanced up at the rolling thunderclouds. The storm would hit in a few hours. Once again, he pondered the mystery of Yiralla’s quarry. Who could be so important that the champion would ignore even the considerable fury of a Skarral winter storm to pursue?
He had a choice to make, he knew. Hamen’s glance passed between Yiralla, the scouts disappearing west, and the abandoned ogre camp. Find shelter for his men in the caves, or continue to follow on Yiralla’s heels, or…
“Form up,” he said abruptly. “We follow the scouts. Let’s see where they lead us.”
✽✽✽
Here ends Volume III of The Gods’ Game.
Kyran’s adventures in Myelad continue in The Sovereign.
Coming September 2020!
I hope you enjoyed this book and would be grateful if you share your thoughts. Click here to leave a review.
Many thanks,
Rohan!
(Gods’ Game forum)
Game Data
Deepholm Settlement Log
20 Octu 2603 AB: Main barracks completed.
22 Octu 2603 AB: Final spoke modifications completed.
25 Octu 2603 AB: Mines guardroom completed.
26 Octu 2603 AB: Work began on mines.
26 Octu 2603 AB: Ore mining has begun! No vault or storeroom is available at Deepholm. All ore collected will be stored in the essence chamber.
Kyran’s Profile (Class Data)
Name: Kyran Seversan. Race: Elf.
Player type: Advanced player, free agent.
Combat level: 29. Civilian level: 32. Health: 320/320.
Stamina: 500/500. Will: 1020/1020. Essence: 1200/1200.
Attacks: 44.2 (slash), 55 (psi wave), 68.9 (shock bolt).
Defences: 39.7 (physical), 30 (psi), 30 (spell).
Class: Jade wild druid (rank II, apprentice).
The wild druid is a psionic-magic hybrid with class abilities focused on beast mastery.
Class
traits
Incompetent summoner (-1 summoned creatures): Current limit = 0.
Wild tamer (+1 tamed creatures per rank): Current limit = 7.
Class skills
Beast bonding (70.7), body control (44.9), light armour (24.0), psionics (49), telepathy (55.1), air magic (68.9), earth magic (68.9), supportive magic (68.9), spellcasting (61.2), water magic (51), nature lore (24.0).
Class abilities
Wild shift: Druids can shift into a beastform.
Beastform: Druids can learn the beastform of a befriended creature. Known beastforms: 1/4.
Other skills (20 combat and 8 civilian SP available)
Fire magic (43.4), longsword (10.4), telekinesis (26.5).
Commander (16.0), governor (8.6), mage lord (48.0), scrying (14.4), travelling (14.4), feudal lord (14.4).
Vassals: 8 of 167.
Combat abilities (5 AP available)
Beast bond, rank II: Beast befriend, beast bless.
Air magic, rank II: Shock wall, haste, shock bolt.
Earth magic, rank II: Oil slick.
Telepathy, rank II: Psi wave, mass sleep.
Supportive magic, rank II: Cure wounds, magic shield.
Spellcasting, rank II: Delayed casting.
Beast bond, rank I: Calm beast, beast bond, extend bond, enrage beast.
Body control, rank I: Mind-over-matter, boost speed.
Telepathy, rank I: Mind shock, confusion.
Telekinesis, rank I: Teleport (self), hold, teleport (object).
Air magic, rank I: Blend, truesight, shocking hands.
Fire magic, rank I: Flaming hands, fire dart, fire shield.
Water magic, rank I: Water armour, slippery ice, ice wall, freezing hands.
Earth magic, rank I: Barkskin, grasping roots, earth tremor, poison ward.
Supportive magic, rank I: Restore health (self), restore health (others).
Civilian abilities (8 AP available)
Travelling, rank II: Teleport rings.
Mage lord, rank II: Magister’s gift.
Commander, rank II: Invigorating aura, commander’s gift.
Scrying, rank II: Improved scrying.
Travelling, rank I: Show portals, travel (self).
Scrying, rank I: Show hostiles, basic scrying, detect scrying.
Nature lore, rank I: Show plants, gather plants.
Commander, rank I: Inspiring, shared sight.
Governor, rank I: Detect truth.
Mage lord, rank I: Channel essence, channel novice spells.
Equipped items
Heir’s mithril scale armour (32 armour, +8% commander).
Elven mageblade (35-40 slash damage, +8% longsword).
Bone shaman necklace (+2% earth magic).
Tamer's bracelet (+8% beast bonding).
Afterword
Please take the time to leave a review on www.amazon.com and click here to subscribe to my mailing list for news on future books in the series. Thank you for reading Sovereign Rising.
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I hope you enjoyed the book!
Best Regards,
Rohan
[email protected]
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Sovereign Rising (The Gods' Game, Volume III): A LitRPG novel Page 39